


Four a.m. drabbles

by traumschwinge



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Bathing/Washing, Christmas Fluff, Divorce, Dominant Norway, Drabble Collection, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Gen, Homesickness, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Morning Cuddles, Sappy, Strip Games, Whining
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-18
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-01 23:35:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1049908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traumschwinge/pseuds/traumschwinge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a collection of the drabbles I have written. This means you should be prepared for various topics and relationships in different stages and sometimes plain ridiculousness. Just pay attention to every chapters summary.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. [FraGer] Waking up in the middle of the night

**Author's Note:**

> Some of these drabbles were requests or inspired by tumblr posts. Those will be marked accordingly. If you have a request as well, drop me a comment here or [ on my lj](http://traumschwinge.livejournal.com/50951.html)
> 
> Anyways, enjoy reading~

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ludwig wakes up after just 2 and a half hours of sleep and decides to cuddle some more before he gets up.

Ludwig rolled over. Even though he had just woken, he still felt tired. Sleepily, he looked at the alarm clock on his nightstand. Half past six in the morning. Damn his body clock for waking him after just a few hours of sleep. It had been so late when they had finally gone to bed yesterday.  
  
It had been past ten when his doorbell had ringed and at least eleven when they had decided that cooking some dinner would be a good idea. Around half past twelve they had been done with cooking and had sat down on his couch to cuddle while eating. It had been the first time in months when they had had time for each other.  
  
By two they had finally moved it to his bedroom. But it hadn’t been until four before they eventually went to sleep. There had been so much to make up for. It had felt like they just never had enough time.  
  
And now, Ludwig lay in his bed, rubbing his eyes and wondering whether he should try to go to sleep again or just stay awake. He watched his lover’s sleeping face for some time. Right now he felt like he would never be able to go back to sleep again. Carefully not to wake his lover, he brushed a strand of hair out of the other’s face.  
  
On those few quiet occasions all by themselves he sometimes wondered how he could bear all the time without him. Of course he didn’t think that much about it when he was working or with others, but at night his bed felt much too big and cold without his dear beside him.  
  
He cuddled up against the other. A yawn had convinced him to try to sleep a bit more. He breathed in his lover’s scent. The warmth beside him was soothing. He closed his eyes again.  
  
“Je t’aime.”


	2. Strip Mau Mau

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Characters in this chapter: France, Austria, Prussia
> 
> Gilbert plays strip Mau Mau with Francis and Roderich but is miraculously losing almost every game until he's down to his underwear.

Gilbert stared at the cards in his hands. He sweated a bit. This didn’t look good. He wiped his forehead. He shuffled them again. He had two options here. Whichever card he played next would most likely determine whether he would win or lose this game. Loosing this one would be bad. He was already down to his underwear and could only take of either his shorts or his singlet.  
  
He looked up at the other two. Roderich smiled one of his little sly smiles at him which drove him almost mad every time he had to see it. He had only two cards left, three less than Gilbert himself. Gilbert had no idea how he did it all the time. Roderich was way too good at this game. If Gilbert would have known he would never have agreed to it. Worst thing was that Roderich was still almost completely dressed.  
  
Francis had at least already taken off his shirt and shoes. But even so, Gilbert was doing too bad to be simply bad at this game. He had lost almost every match until now. There was something fishy here. Gilbert felt like these two had decided to ally against him. He couldn’t quite make out how but they had. He was sure.  
  
Gilbert finally picked his card. He just hoped an eight would be enough. That would make Francis miss out on his turn. He sighed. And regretted the decision the next moment. He looked into Roderich’s still smiling face as the other took one of the cards in his hand and slowly placed it on the pile.  
  
“Thanks for giving me the opportunity to play this card,” he said. “Mau.”  
  
Another eight. That little sneak! Gilbert was so done with this game. Never ever again would he agree to play with those two. Never! He really had to restrain himself from slamming his cards down. He hadn’t lost yet. Well, not quite. But he couldn’t do a thing because that bastard aristocrat had made him skip his turn.  
  
Gilbert was torn between hoping the Frenchmen would do something, anything to stop that priss from winning and worrying about how they would look at him when he had to take down his singlet. The grins when they had watched him take off his jeans had been bad enough, but showing those dirty old men his nipples freaked him out more than it should considering they had seen each other naked plenty of times.  
  
As Francis put down a seven, Gilbert let out a relieved sigh. He hadn’t hoped for that. Maybe he could still win this match. Or at least not come out last. Gilbert shuffled his cards again. He hadn’t even thought about the next round.  
  
It turned out, he didn’t have to. “Mau Mau,” Roderich gloated. Gilbert was sure he really gloated. “Four more cards for you, Gilbert.”  
  
Gilbert huffed. There was no way he would continue playing. “I give up,” he grumbled. “So save your breath.” He was sick of it already and just wanted to get over with it.  
  
Gilbert got off his chair. He gulped. Both Roderich and Francis watched him closely. He had no idea what they were thinking. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to. The looks in their eyes spoke volumes to him.  
  
He turned around so he wouldn’t have to watch them. One of them whistled approvingly as he grabbed the rim of singlet. Slowly, he pulled it up. It was so cold without it. He knew he had to. And the longer he took the more the two of them would enjoy it. He quickly pulled the singlet over his head and threw it on the ground. His arms crossed in front of his chest to hide his nipples, he turned around.  
  
“Are you happy now?” he gnarled.  
  
“Almost. Let’s play one more time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mau Mau is a card game similar to Uno and the likes. Which makes it a rather childish thing to play.


	3. [DenNor]Cold Fish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a dim lit bar, Lukas tries to go down on Sören in his own way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [Grimmsche](http://grimmsche.tumblr.com)

 

Lukas sat down at the counter of a dimly lit bar next to a tall blond man. He had watched him for quite some time now. He looked rather handsome, but then again like a dork while he was drinking. So he had been thinking for a while whether he should go over to him.

 

“One beer for me and this lovely beauty over here,” the guy told the bar tender, before he turned to Lukas and grinned at him. “Hi, I’m Sören.” He extended his hand to him.

 

“Don’t you touch me,” Lukas hissed. “Just sit there! If you keep it nice I’ll let you treat me a beer.”

 

To his surprise, the guy laughed. “Well, okay, a little bit awkward, are we?” he asked.

 

“Just shut up,” Lukas growled. “Just sit there and look at me.” He pushed over the glass of beer the bartender had just brought him.

 

“You’re weird,” the guy said. “I like that.” He rested his head on one hand. “I could stare at you forever, cutie.”

 

“Why don’t you do in silence then?” Lukas huffed. He had no idea why he had come over. This guy wasn’t a dork, he was a downright idiot. But he also wanted these bright blue eyes to watch him all night.

 

Lukas kept watching him. He watched him drink his beer, pouring it down in big gulps. He watched his Adam’s apple move up and down with every gulp. He watched him wipe his mouth with the back of his hand after he had put the keg down. Oh, how Lukas would love to see this at a different place after swallowing something else.

 

Lukas looked down to Sören’s chest, watched it move when he was breathing. If he squinted he could see muscles though his shirt. At least, Lukas wished for that. Sören’s arms also looked pretty strong. Just like the arms he would like to have around his waist. He wanted to touch them.

 

Hesitantly, Lukas extended a hand to touch the lower of Sören’s arm. The tips of his fingers brushed though the long hairs there. They felt pleasantly soft. Lukas liked the feeling.

 

“So, you’re allowed to touch but I ain’t?” Sören chuckled.

 

“Shut up and kiss me now!” Lukas demanded instead of answering. He grabbed the other’s collar to pull him close. Their lips met in an angry, demanding kiss.

 

“Man, it’s true what they say, the crazy are always great kissers,” Sören chuckle when they broke the kiss for some heartbeats.

 

Lukas put some money on the counter, enough to pay for both their beers. “Just shut up,” he panted. Sören wasn’t a bad kisser himself after all and the kiss had left him breathless. “You! My place! Now!” He grabbed Sören by his wrist and dragged him out of the bar without waiting for an answer. By what he took that idiot for, he most likely didn’t even mind.


	4. [AusHun] Grooming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: (AusHun) The couple grooming each other. Bonus points if they obsess over each other’s hair with envy and adoration. Double bonus points if they're bathing together, too~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for [Mintbun on tumblr](http://mintbun.tumblr.com)

Elisabeta ran her hands though Roderich’s soft, light hair. She loved the feel of it. Too bad she would have to get it wet soon. It had taken her a long time to get him to have a bath with her but this was worth it. She continued to run her fingertips over his scalp. Once in a while, he would left out a soft purr when she touched him somewhere he particularly liked it. She loved his smooth dark-brown hair. She could run her hands through it like this forever.  
  
 “Hunny, didn’t you want to wash my hair?” he chuckled after a while. She knew he didn’t really mind what she was doing. After all, she did this once in a while to soothe him when he was stressed.  
  
She took the shower head and turned the water on. She held her hand under it to wait for the right temperature. When she thought it was okay, she let some of the water rinse down her beloved’s back. “Is the temperature fine like this?” she whispered, stroking his shoulders.  
  
He nodded. From what she could tell, he was too relaxed to answer. She let out a soft chuckle. He was just so cute like this. She waited for him to tilt his head back before she started to soak his hair. She watched the water run down his spine. She couldn’t help but kiss the back of his neck.  
  
After a while, she turned off the water again to get the shampoo. She rubbed some of it between her hands before she massaged it into his hair. She took her time with it, moving her fingers over his scalp longer than necessary. She continued like this until the foam started to vanish. It just felt too good to have her fingers in his hair. She should really do this more often. She just wished she had hair this soft and easy to comb.  
  


~*~

After the bath, Roderich gently dried her hair. First, he took a towel to predry her hair. He rubbed the tips between the towel first, before he slowly started to move up to her head. He took his time to ruffle through her drying hair and stroke her head a bit more than necessary.

He loved playing with her long locks. He liked the way it lightened up when he dried it in his fingers. The little gleams of copper and bronze that made up the light brown of her hair never failed to astonish him. And the way her locks went back in shape when you pulled them gently was almost like a miracle to someone whose easy-care hair stayed straight no matter what.

When he felt like he had done enough with the towel he took a hairbrush. He liked brushing through her long locks. When he did so, the locks straightened a bit so the brush left gentle waves behind.

He carefully brushed all her hair before he took the hairdryer. He knew it would have taken him a long time if he had done so earlier but for the last bits it was alright. Elisabeta herself usually just air-dried her hair and afterwards complained that she looked like a mop. Roderich never told her so but he thought she looked even more adorable like that.

When he was done drying and had brushed her hair one more time, she turned around to smile at him. He smiled back before briefly kissing her lips. After a moment of fondly staring at her, he took a barrette from the bathroom cabinet – his favorite which resembled two chicory blossoms – and carefully used It to pin half her bangs to the side.

Kissing her on the forehead, he whispered: “Thank you for growing out your hair for me.” Amongst so many other things, he loved her for that.

 

* * *

  
One little note to the fic: A chicory looks like this:  
(It's a wikipedia image)   
It’s said that this flower can be used for love spells and prediction of one’s future husband. But I just picked it because I like how it looks.


	5. [AusHun] In bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by this post: [AusHun Headcanon on Tumblr](http://ask-hungary-irl.tumblr.com/post/58337027877/aushun-headcanon-during-their-marriage)  
> During their marriage , Elizaveta noticed a pattern whilst in bed with Roderich.  
> If he faced away from her whilst they lay down , he simply wanted to sleep.  
> If he faced her and wrapped his arm around her waist , he wanted to talk to her and cuddle for a while.  
> And if he moved her hair and started kissing her neck whilst whispering her name sensually , he wanted something else.

Elisaveta sneaked into their bedroom. She could see the figure of her husband lying in bed, his back turned towards the door. He had gone to bed early tonight. So she put out the candle in her hand as soon as she had reached their four-poster.  
  
She snuck under the blanket. For a moment, she listened to her husband’s breathing.It didn’t sound like he was asleep already. So she turned towards him and cuddled up against his back.  
  
“You didn’t have to wait up for me,” she whispered. He had looked so tired when he had gone to bed and the way he was lying in bed, facing away from her, told her clearly that he wanted to sleep.  
  
He turned around in her arms and looked at her. “But I wanted to,” he whispered. It sounded like he had been asleep before she had entered. Lovingly, he wrapped an arm around her waist. “We didn’t have much time for each other today,” he went on.  
  
Elisaveta could feel her cheeks getting a bit hot. Unsure what to do, she pecked his lips. “Thank you,” she whispered back. She purred lowly as she rested her head against his chest. It was still a strange sensation but at times like this, she liked to feel like a woman, feel protected in her husband’s tender arms.  
  
He started caressing her back softly. She could hear him hum a soft tune, the one she never had heard him play but only hum in bed to her and her alone. “I’m sorry,” he whispered after a while. “I should pay you more attention. I missed talking to you.”  
  
His hand moving up her back sent shivers down her spine. “It’s alright,” she whispered back between two kisses. He brushed her hair away from her neck. One lock got tangled between his fingers but instead of freeing himself, he started to play with her hair.  
  
Her ears started to burn as he breathed her name in them. She knew so well where this was headed and she didn’t mind. He was right. They hadn’t had much time for each other lately. A long, deep kiss took all her sleepiness away.  
  
“You know,” he panted after they finally broke away from each other for a moment. “I’m not tired at all anymore.”


	6. [post-marriage AusHun]The day after

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is set in an modern AU where Roderich and Elizabetha had been married with children. The day described is after Elizabetha and the children left the family home for good. Roderich wanders through his now empty house. 
> 
> Gloomy, dark ficlet without much of a plot, really. 
> 
> If you're easily depressed, skip this drabble.

Roderich was sitting in his study. He very much tried not to focus on the silence around him. He had already given up on trying to do anything. For the past two hours, he had read or at least stared at a page in a book, sat at his piano without doing anything, went through his work that was piling up on his desk. Nothing had been able to keep his mind at one place for more than two minutes. It was useless.

He sighed.

The whole house was quiet. He was all alone in this big, old house full of memories. The only company he had the pleasure of was his own and it really was a dubious pleasure. In this deep silence that he was not yet used to, his thoughts sounded deafening. There was a lump inside his throat making it impossible for him to breathe every time he allowed his mind to wander. He pressed his hands against his chest, trying to get his lungs to move by sheer strength of will and a bit of physical assistance by his arms. It didn't help. The last words from another living being he had heard were still lingering in his mind. Always close enough to remind himself of them as soon as his concentration shifted away from pushing them back.

_"I finished packing our things up."_

Around nightfall, he managed to get up from the chair he had been slumped in all afternoon. He wandered the deserted house to eventually make his way to the kitchen which felt just as life-deprived as every other room. There wasn't much food to be found but he didn't care, he wasn't hungry anyway. But he knew he needed to eat. Then again everything tasted the same. He took a slice of bread and bit into it, not even bothering with butter or cheese or anything. Then he left.

Seeing the kitchen, the whole house empty of his wife and the two kids tore at him. He hadn't wanted her to leave. Now, he didn't even understand why he had let her go. There wasn't much left to his life without them.

Brushing his teeth he wondered if the last break-up he had had to live through had been as painfull as the one now. He doubted it. Back then, he hadn't felt alone. He and ... even the thought of her name pulled too painfully to bear at his heart... They had been friends back then. He had had someone to lean on to. He hoped she had someone to lean on to today.

He lay down on th- no, his cold and empty and much too big bed. Staring at the ceiling, he waited for the welcomed dark of sleep to come for him and take his mind to blissful oblivion.


	7. [FraGer] The real thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Homesick Ludwig complains about baguette being a very poor and limp excuse for a bread, Francis isn't much amused.

Francis let out a satisfied sigh. “There's nothing better than fresh, warm, long baguette,” he said, tearing off a bit off the bread and then offered some to Ludwig as well, raising his eyebrows suggestively. “Want a bite of my French stick?”

 

Ludwig only huffed. “No, thanks, I'm full anyway,” he said.

 

“Are you telling me you don't like my _bread_?”

 

“Are you telling me, you call _this_ bread?” Ludwig indicated at the baguette.

 

“I call it great many things,” Francis purred. “But if you don't want it, maybe you would like tasting another French stick?” The following wriggle of eyebrows made Ludwig groan.

 

“If that's as limp as your” Snort. “bread, no thanks,” Ludwig replied.

 

Francis threw his hands up. “What is it with you and bread today?” he sighed. “Baguette is perfectly fine. Or do you want me to get you toast?”

 

Ludwig rolled his eyes. “There's nothing wrong with your baguette,” he said. “I'm just sick of it and sick of the fact that you don't seem to have any proper bread here. And no, toast is no real bread either.”

 

“So,” Francis huffed. “And would you deign to tell me what real bread is like?”

 

“Not these,” he said, vaguely. “I don't know, do you even have any without wheat?”

 

Francis shrugged. “What should they be made of if not wheat?”

 

“Rye, barley, spelt, just about anything,” Ludwig said.

 

Francis wrinkled his nose. “That can't taste well,” he decided.

 

Ludwig shrugged. “And you never put anything in it,” he went on, ignoring Francis interjection. “Have you ever tried bread with pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds or dried onions and so on in it?” He almost moaned at the thought.

 

Francis shook his head and patted the younger man's shoulder. “Come on, now you sound like you want to jerk off to it,” he joked to hide his uneasiness.

 

Ludwig put his thumb on the crust of the baguette, pressing it down and then, after releasing the pressure watching it slowly unfolding back in form. “It was you who started the sexual reference thing,” he sighed, continuing to play with the baguette. “Bread isn't supposed to do this either,” he murmured.

 

“Bread is only good if it can jump back into its original form after pressing it down,” Francis stated, very sure about this.

 

Ludwig shook his head. “Bread is supposed to have a hard crust and a soft … heart,” he said, adding a sigh. “I'm sorry, Francis, dear, I think I'm just a bit homesick.” He leaned against Francis and closed his eyes. “It's not that I don't enjoy being with you, but... there are a few things I miss sometimes. And bread is very high up on the list.”

 

Francis hugged him close. “It's alright, _mon cher_ , I get it,” he chuckled. “Can I do something, anything to get your mind off it?” He started rubbing circles on Ludwig's thighs.

 

Ludwig leaned in close on his boyfriend, nuzzling at his neck and humming approvingly. “Only if you promise me on thing,” he said between two soft kisses placed on Francis' neck.

 

“Anything, as I said,” Francis purred back.

 

“Promise me your French stick isn't as limp as your baguette,” Ludwig said, unable to contain his chuckles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this just as an outlet for my own feelings. I didn't have actual French bread in mind when I wrote this, more the French bakeries you get in China. Yes, Paris Baguette and the likes, I'm looking at you.


	8. Night of the ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set in the 1960/70s. Roderich copes with his loneliness in his own way.

Roderich was sitting in his study. It was getting late yet again. He had even trouble concentrating on the text he was supposed to read properly. Like he cared about increasing meetings between American and Russian spies. He would have to ignore them anyway, so why should he even bother.

The worst part of this was that whenever he read "Russian", he couldn't help glance up at his bookshelf, where a hour glass lay on his side. He dusted that damn thing every other month or so, but he hated that he had to. When he had placed it on its side so the sand wouldn't flow down anymore, he had thought--no, just hoped, all he ever had had been hope--that this wouldn't be for so long.

He put the papers he had been reading down. It was no use, he was at the end of his concentration and simply didn't feel like it anymore. He would deal with it in the morning. That would be less of a waste of time, then, for it would go a lot smoother.

Though he didn't get up. He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes for a while. Had it already been twenty years? It felt like so much more and so much less at the same time. So many things had changed and yet nothing at all. His own heart insisted that already a few eternities had passed, but that couldn't be true. It had sometimes felt like that after merely seven months.

He had tried writing letters. Over and over again. Some of them had ended in shreds, some in ashes. One had been confiscated by Ludwig, who had told him that he was making a fool out of himself and he wouldn't suffer watching that. Roderich knew that Ludwig had long given up on writing letters. Not even trips to the other side of the Curtain had changed anything about that. Sometimes, Roderich assumed the younger country was much too busy with finding his role and a place for himself. Other times, mostly when he felt spiteful and angry about nothing in particular, he thought it might rather be that Ludwig was simply much too busy pleasing as many Western countries as he could.

When he felt finally ready to reopen his eyes, Roderich pulled out a piece of paper. He hadn't attempted to write in a long time. So he unscrewed his pen, paused a moment and then wrote down the name he meant to address this letter to. It took all his remaining strength to do that.

When he closed his eyes now as he was trying to think what to say, what to tell, he could hear their voices inside his head. What they had sounded like before. He had no idea if they still sounded like that. So many things could have changed by now. Twenty years weren't nothing, after all.

It was so hard, finding his words when he clearly wasn't sure what to say. He could spill his heart. But if he did, he knew no one would be able to decipher the words, for all there would be left were big splashes and blots all over the paper. Still, he couldn't help but to write the thoughts down that kept him away at so many nights.

After a while, he had to put down his glasses. There was no use in keeping them at place now. He had already gotten them wet, it was giving him some difficulties looking through them. And besides, not having them on his nose made handkerchief access far easier.

All the words he wanted to say, all those things he didn't ever want to speak out loud, he wrote them down, fixating them on paper as if to bind them there so they wouldn't be able to haunt him anymore. It was useless and yet he had to try.

\---

An hour later, three narrowly filled sheets lay on his desk. Roderich had pulled out the candle he still kept in his drawer because old habits died hard and it was just so useful to have candles around once in a while. He also produced a matchbox.

He took his time lighting the candle, like it was a sacred thing to do. Maybe it had already become a ritual to him. Opening the matchbox, inhale, selecting a match, exhale, closing the matchbox, inhale, igniting the match, holding his breath, waiting for the flame to become stable, exhale again. Holding the flame to the wick meant holding his breath once more, until the flame caught and he could wave out the match.

Carefully, he put the plate left from his dinner on the desk next to the candle. Then, he picked up the pages of the letter. The last one was still wet, it wouldn't be any god but he didn't want to wait. He should have gone to bed hours ago. One by one, he held the pages in the flame of the candle, taking his time to watch each of them burn to tiny bits of paper and black and gray ash.

His eyes stung and his head ached as he blew the candle out after he was done. Then, he got up and left the study. He would deal with his work the next day. This night belonged to the ashes alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bit with the hourglass is actually taken from an older fic of mine which can be read [here](http://traumschwinge.livejournal.com/32990.html#cutid1)


	9. [SnowRabbit] Christmas isn't just the 24th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Germany, Christmas is celebrated on December 24th. In Russia however, the church follows the Julian calendar.

“Hey, Ivan!” Gilbert called out. He had persuaded his brother to take him to the last meeting this year, some stupid bilateral thing between Russia and the EU. He even had suffered quietly and without complaints through the whole thing. All to see Ivan once more before everyone went on Christmas break. And now that stupid creeper dared to walk out without waiting if Gilbert had anything to say to him. Gilbert's hands formed fists.  
  
He wouldn't have been able to call out a second time, but luckily for him, Ivan turned and smiled at him. “Yes, Gilbert?” he asked.  
  
“I-” Gilbert struggled for words. Ugh, why had it to be this hard to simply ask him. Let's spend the holidays together. That wasn't a complicated sentence, was it? Then why was it this hard to voice it. Instead, Gilbert glared at his—wait, what was Ivan to him anyway? Friend? Ex-lover? Crush? Depending on whom you asked, the answer could be all of the above. Only Gilbert didn't know which.  
  
“If you give me a present for Christmas, I'll let you kiss me!” Gilbert finally blurted out. It wasn't what he had meant, but it was close enough.  
  
To his elation, Ivan's smile grew even brighter and then Gilbert was pulled into a bone-crushing hug. “I will, I promise.”  
  
**  
  
Gilbert spent the 23rd of December listening for the ring of the doorbell and waiting for the postman.  
  
Gilbert also intended to spend the 24th of December listening for the ring of the doorbell and waiting for the postman but Ludwig wouldn't let him wait longer then until two in the afternoon when he forced him to help prepare dinner.  
  
Gilbert did help, in the end, grumbling and cursing his brother for interrupting him doing something important which Ludwig would never understand because all Ludwig ever liked to have were perfectly stable relationships which people he knew that loved him back because they had been the ones who had asked him out. To which Ludwig had only replied that maybe Gilbert should start to like people who weren't sadistic assholes.  
  
The still somehow managed to have dinner ready when everyone else arrived. Just like every year, the two of them were celebrating with Roderich and Elizabeta and whoever else of their extended family followed the invitation in that particular year. Gilbert didn't pay much attention during dinner. He didn't even pay much attention to the presents when they exchanged them. Stupid Ivan, he had promised, that ass and yet had hadn't sent Gilbert anything. Gilbert was so busy sulking that he even let  
Roderich's snaky remarks slide—okay, well, some of them, and others because it was Christmas and he didn't want to cause Ludwig to yell.  
  
**  
  
By December 26th, Gilbert was convinced that Christmas sucked.  
  
**  
  
On January 6th, Gilbert was very proud of himself that he hadn't made those little beggars who called themselves _Sternensinger_ flee in terror and tears for interrupting him being heart-broken and suffering and for generally not being Ivan who simply had missed Christmas by a mile.  
  
**  
  
When the doorbell rang the next day, Gilbert didn't even bother to get up. Should Ludwig get it. Right now, Gilbert was too warm and comfortable and well equipped with chocolate to get up from his position in front of the TV with a blanket all over his body.  
  
He didn't even move when Ludwig called for him. He didn't move when he heard someone entering the living room. Nor when Ludwig called that he gave him a fair warning and would be leaving now and Gilbert shouldn't make a mess while he was gone.  
  
When he heard the front door close, Gilbert finally sat up. “What the hell?” he murmured.  
  
Someone approached the couch and stopped behind Gilbert. “This isn't funny, you know?” Gilbert hissed, forcing himself not to get his hopes up.  
  
“Merry Christmas,” a voice with a thick accent said as there was a present dropped in Gilbert's lap. Gilbert looked at this present in wonder, his fingers shaking too much to open it just now. He didn't even look up when Ivan stepped around the couch and knelt down in front of him. He did lift his head when Ivan took his hand and pressed it carefully.  
  
Ivan was wearing a blue robe that looked like the blue brother of the man from the Coke ads and at the same time very Russia. “May I kiss you now?” Ivan chuckled.  
  
Gilbert didn't answer that. Instead, he put the present aside and launched himself at Ivan, pressing a forceful kiss on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sternsinger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_boys%27_singing_procession) haunt a lot of German towns on January 6th.


End file.
